Posted on 04/02/2002 5:35:13 PM PST by vannrox
27-01-2002 Thirteen years after they ended an eight-year war, Iran and Iraq have taken steps to resolve some of the outstanding issues hampering closer relations - primarily the fate of prisoners of war. After talks in Tehran, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, spoke of their willingness to leave behind the legacy of the conflict. And Mr Sabri "reiterated that his country would do its utmost to do away with the bitter record of the past relations between the two countries," IRNA said. Iran and Iraq have yet to normalise ties after the war which left nearly one million people dead. In the past week, Iran released almost 700 Iraqi prisoners of war. That matched an earlier move by Baghdad, when it reopened its borders to allow Iranian Muslim pilgrims to visit Shiite shrines in Iraq. Tehran has repeatedly denied Baghdad's charges that it has some 29,000 Iraqi prisoners. Iraq says another 60,000 are still missing. One million Iraqis and Iranians are believed to have died in the war Both countries also accuse each other of harbouring opposition activists. Iran regularly denounces Iraq for backing its main opposition People's Mujahideen Organisation, while Baghdad accuses Tehran for giving support to Iraqi Shiite Muslim dissidents. Iraq and Iran to 'forget past'
"Iran is seriously seeking to close this chapter which has lasted long years," Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Minister Kharrazi as telling Mr Sabri.
'Close the file'
IRNA said the ministers had promised to resolve all the humanitarian issues in their troubled relations, but gave no details.
However, Mr Kharrazi said closing "the file of humanitarian problems" would have "very positive repercussions on the relations between the two countries".
Obstacle to relations
The fate of thousands of POWs is still one of the main issues blocking full normalisation of relations between the two sides, who are still at odds on how many prisoners each other holds.
Iran accuses Iraq of detaining about 3,000 of its soldiers, but Baghdad denies holding any Iranian POWs.
Israel on the move has a way of doing this. But I trust Iran and Iraq to screw each other over sometime in the future. Both nations, like the rest of the Arab world, have all the intelligence and integrity of the average crack whore.
Gee......you're so generously perceptive......
Problem is, neither of these governments have much of a future.
Or not, and be on the receiving end of the consequences of their decision. Do they understand the concept behind a sausage grinder? Would they care to re-learn the lesson first-hand?
That much?
The Arabs have a saying:
Me against my brother,
Me and my brother against my cousin,
Me, my brother, and my cousin against the Infidel.
(That last'n means you'n me here, Earl, so, y'all stay locked 'n' loaded, now, y'hear?)
Once again, this is THEM, not us here benighted right-wing xenophobes, saying all they know how to do is start a fight. I'm tired of 'em...
I'm hoping this 9/11 incident will give us the resolve to make this the last fight they'll ever pick with *anybody*.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.